Wanted: Friendship
by Burst.ofSILENCE
Summary: Oneshot. Like everything else in the Oracle and the Ghost King's relationship, the beginning of their friendship was unarguably unconventional. Nico&Rachel


**Hey guys, m'back with a short oneshot. This one's about the origins of Nico and Rachel's friendship (and relationship, eventually). Honestly, I have no idea how they'd end up best friends, but this one seemed... I don't know, them? That, and it was fun to write.**

**This was originally written for the rachel_nico community in livejournal. Go check it out and – if you're a major supporter of/contributor to the pairing – join up!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Not a day goes by that I don't wish otherwise.**

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><p><strong>Wanted: Friendship<strong>  
><em>Requirement: Must be completely dysfunctional<em>

"I need a favor." Rachel stated, scanning the different-colored tubes of paint on the shelves.

Fifteen-year-old Nico di Angelo raised an eyebrow. "A favor so important that you had to sneak into my high school? You suck at espionage, by the way."

She scowled and briefly glanced back at him. "How should I have known that my old art teacher got transferred there?"

"About that, did you really call her a 'pretentious airhead who couldn't tell the difference between da Vinci and di Caprio,' back when you were a junior?"

"Yup, sure did." This time, she turned around fully to face the younger boy, if only to let him see the triumphant grin on her face. The way she had replied was nonchalant, as if she insulted adults about their chosen profession on a daily basis. The corner of Nico's mouth twitched up in an almost-smile.

They had made quite a scene when they entered the art store minutes ago – a nineteen-year-old redhead pulling a disgruntled dark-haired boy along. There were protests _("What the Hades am I doing here, Dare?") _and quips _("Oh, come _on_, Nico! It's an art store, not Medusa's lair.") _exchanged, all the way to the paints section. Needless to say, the cashier on duty was thoroughly confused.

Rachel picked up a tube of paint and looked at the color, before wrinkling her nose and putting it back. "No."

"So, what's this favor you needed?" Nico asked, looking at the tubes and trying to read their names in his dyslexia-addled head. _Alizarin Crimson Hue, Quinacridone Magenta..._ what the hell happened to plain old _red?_

"It's really simple, actually. And it benefits both of us." She replied.

"You better not ask me to be in another one of your urban art sculptures, because there is no way you're getting me to do that again—"

"I need a new best friend." Nico stopped moving, a tube of _Phthalo Blue (Red Shade) _in his hand (his mind couldn't even begin to comprehend _that_one). "Hey, I like that hue. Give it to me."

He just stared at her, absentmindedly handing her the tube of paint. Finally, he said: "Excuse me?"

She scoffed. "Are you deaf in one ear or something, Ghost King? I said I need a new—"

"I heard what you said. It's just... _what?"_

Rachel shrugged. "The two I have won't stop eating each other's face."

Nico scoffed. "Where were you the past three years, Dare? Percy and Annabeth have been doing that since they got together." He pointed out as they moved on to the brushes section. The Oracle shook her head.

"You don't understand. It's getting worse. I walked in on them the other week and," She shuddered. "Not. Pretty. Can you hand me that brush up there?"

"Short stuff." He remarked as he reached up and got the brush for her. She smacked his shoulder in retaliation and headed for the canvasses, trusting Nico to follow her. There was a short silence as she chose between plain and stained, and then he asked. "Why me?"

"Well, I realized that I've known you for, what, five years? But I don't get to talk to you that often. I usually see you hanging around Percy and Annabeth, too. And I thought that the two of us might as well hang out together while those two are occupied, you know?" She picked up a few of the plain canvasses, struggling to carry them along with everything else she picked out. Nico wordlessly took the canvasses from her. Rachel shot him a quick smile. "Thanks. Let's go pay for all these."

They went to the cashier and – after a few weird stares from the attendant – paid for Rachel's supplies. The Oracle handed the attendant her credit card and then addressed the son of Hades.

"So, what do you say? Best friends?"

The Oracle and the Ghost King, best friends? Well, sure, Rachel was okay to be with, and today hadn't been as bad as he thought it would have been, but what the hell would their parents (both mortal and immortal) and Apollo say? Then, he realized: what did he care?

He gave her a crooked half-grin and shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

He wasn't sure what to expect: Thunder rumbling; green mist swirling around them; heck, he even half-expected his dad and Apollo to appear and declare war against each other. But (thank the gods,) none of that happened.

She grinned brightly and, not for the first time, Nico was struck by how pretty she was.

"Great! So Nico, what do you know about Abstraticism?"

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><p><strong>...Sons of Hades need not apply 8D<strong>

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